The Charmed Story
by The Human Bean
Summary: Set years from now, the Charmed Ones and their kids must battle an ancient demon and uphold their everyday lives. I'm new at this, and the only way i know how to get better is if you review!
1. Chapter One

Chapter one: The Dream  
  
She was walking through a hall of doors, muttering to herself. She knew, somehow, that the right door was on the left. They were all open, full of random things; marbles, jacks and chess sets, all abnormally oversized. Door, door, where had that door gone? It was right here last time. Her eyebrows knitted together, and she looked around her, an awesome force drawing her forward. She was near it now, she could feel it, pulsing with light. She saw her own hand, with its painted blue, chewed-up nails reach for the spiral- shaped handle, and a heavy something slammed into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her, yelling loudly, "Ally! Aunt Piper says to get you'n Mel up for school!" Ally shook her red- haired head. A dream, it had all been a dream, the doors, the chess pieces, everything. She groaned sleepily, "'kay Rach, I'll get Mel up if you get OFF," "Sure," Rachel, Ally's 10 year old cousin complied, shaking her brown hair that was so much like her mother's out of her eyes "You know, you wouldn't have to do that if you just let Aunt Phoebe cut your hair," Ally remarked, her trademark grin creeping across her face. "Mmmnnn?" Mel groaned, having just woken up. "Get up, says your pancake-cooking mother," Rachel said, doing a perfect imitation of Piper in the morning. Mel laughed at that and said, "Do you think your mom's up yet, oh wacky psychic?" "Ohhh!" Rachel's eyes lit up at the prospect of jumping up and down on Phoebe's bed to wake her, and promptly ran down the hall. "Works every time, doesn't it, Mel?" Ally said, still smiling, "I don't know what you're smiling about, Al, we have that huge science test today," Mel remarked, making a disgusted face, "Yeah, and on the last day of school, too," Ally replied, "What a bummer."  
  
"I don't know, Pipe," Paige confided in her big sister, "She's been mumbling about a door for the past few nights and I'm starting to worry," "Don't," Piper replied, "Just ask Pheebs, she has a degree for this kind of stuff," "No, Piper, she's been going, "'where's that door? It was here last time'" "What was here?" Phoebe asked her sisters from the kitchen door, walked and poured herself some coffee, "A door," Paige said, "In Al's dream, she's been mumbling about it for awhile now," "A door? That's not a lot to go on, Paige," Phoebe answered, perplexed, "A door could be a lot of things, from an answer to a test, or a repressed memory, just about anything." 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter two: A plot begins  
  
Ally ran a hand through her bright red hair that flared out on the sides and bottom, trying and failing to get rid of the cowlick on the back of her head. Mel, who was standing next to her in front of the large mirror over the desk in the room they shared, was braiding her long brown hair that fell to the middle of her back. Both girls were dressed in school clothes, Mel in a blue tee shirt and jeans, Ally in a neon orange shirt that had San Francisco written in blue on the front, and straight legged blue jeans decorated in random patches. "I hate my hair," she said out of the blue, "Why?" Mel asked, "because I don't look like the family, with all your brown hair, and me? I get red!" "Your mom has red hair, and she's definitely part of the family, end of discussion," Mel replied firmly, Ally gave her a grateful grin and looked at the clock on Mel's bedside table, "Oh, man, we're gonna be late!" Ally ran to the door and yanked it open, grabbing her neon green backpack off of the floor. Racing down the stairs behind her, Mel tied off the end of her braid and the two girls ran out the door, followed shortly by Matthew, Mel's seven year old brother, and Rachel.  
  
***********  
  
*Five more minutes, come on, geez, why does this clock go so darn slow?* Ally wondered as she sat in her last class of the day, in which she was supposed to be writing an essay about her family, except that she wasn't. She looked down at what she had written so far and read silently to herself:  
My Family  
By: Ally Halliwell  
  
My family is  
  
*My family is what?* She pondered, staring out the window into the stormy sky.  
  
********  
  
Matthew swung his feet, trying to get his shoelaces to hit the desk in front of him. Just as the teacher had begun to explain subtraction, there was a particularly loud burst of thunder, and the lighting, as if in retaliation to the noise, promptly went out. All of the kids in his class yelled and screamed in fear or joy. As the teacher got out a flashlight, there was a ear splitting screech and the PA system came on and the principal said, "Not to worry, kids, the second generator will come on in a moment, please don't leave your classrooms, and will Rachel Halliwell please come to the office?" Matthew smirked, for now, the adult's attention would be away from him and back to Rachel. Again. "-and will Rachel Halliwell please come to the office?" *Great, just great,* Rachel thought, *and now that Ms. Adamson wants to meet with mom, it'll make things a whole lot worse.*  
********  
  
As the final bell rang, the second oldest Halliwell child sprang from her seat and raced for her evilly stubborn locker. Once there, Ally kicked a taped X on the door, and it swung open. Grabbing her books, she bolted for the bus, meeting Mel, Rachel, and Matthew on it. "How do you think you did on that test?" Ally asked her cousin, "I dunno, I studied all weekend for it," Mel answered, looking half confidant, "Not me, I probably tanked it, with all those essay questions at the end," Ally said with a worried look on her face. "Well, you have your birthday to look forward to, it's on the eleventh." but that was as far as she got before Matilda, a popular, and rather mean girl cut her off, "Oh, how cute, Melinda's going to throw her ickle cousin a party! Too bad no one will come, your family's probably too poor to send out invitations," she said with fake sympathy. Mel grabbed her cousin's arm to keep her from attacking the bully who'd insulted them. "Come on, Mel! She just insulted our whole family! Let me hit her!" Ally yelled, frustrated that her older cousin wouldn't let her go. "Al, if you hit her you'd just get in trouble," Mel said sensibly, "But I'd feel a lot better!" Ally said, grudgedly sitting down. As the bus chugged its way home, Mel was relieved to see that Ally had calmed down considerably, and was now sitting with her sketchbook up against the window, drawing random people she had seen on the street. When the bus stopped, the Halliwells, Matilda, and a few others got off, and began to walk towards their homes, but not before Matilda had mouthed, "poor," smirked, turned, and immediately fell over a very large branch that hadn't been there moments ago. "That was personal gain!" Mel whispered to Ally, who replied, "I know, but it was worth it!" "Way to go Al!" Rachel exclaimed, "now everyone'll be worried about that and not my parent- teacher conference!" Mel and Ally blinked back at her, Mel looking curious, Ally amused. "What'd you do?" Mel asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Shaving cream. do I have to say more?" Rachel said shortly, shimmering away with Matthew, who had been silent as soon as they had gotten off the bus. "I wish she wouldn't do that," Mel said, "Well, I am, so I'll see you at home," Ally told her, "Hang on," Mel said, carefully, "I'll go too," And with that, both girls disappeared in their own swirl of blue and white. Upon reaching the house, Mel instinctively pulled out her house key, preparing to unlock the door. " We're orbing, dude, no need for keys," Ally laughed as they rematerialized in the hallway, "Guys?" Rachel said, walking out into the hall with Matthew, "you better take a look at this newspaper," She held out that day's paper, the cover story being "Woman killed, Culprit Unknown," "So?" Ally said, slightly confused, "This is San Francisco! This is the United States! People get killed!" "Not like this, they don't," Mel said quietly, reading the story, "Listen to this, ' Police cannot seem to find the manner of the killing, as the victim's heart is missing, without so much as a puncture in the body. The victim's hair is also devoid of color, the skin unnaturally pale.' I find that a bit odd, don't you?" Rachel, who had gone extremely pale, choked, "Where's T and Pru?" "At the daycare service in Aunt Paige's office," Mel answered confidently. Just then, Leo orbed in, saying, "Sorry to. Where is everybody?" "Aunt Paige is at work, T and Pru are with her, Mom's at work, and I don't know where Aunt Piper is," Rachel rattled off, still looking pale. "Are you feeling alright?" Leo asked her, a worried expression crossing his face. "She's just shaken up, here, look at this," Mel handed him the paper. After a long silence, Leo asked, "Have your mothers seen this?" "Nope," answered Ally, "we just got home," "Okay, I'll go get them, why don't you look in the book," "Can do," Rachel said, and all three girls raced upstairs to the attic. Once there, Ally picked up the ancient tome, and began to flip pages with such speed that her fingers appeared a blur, "Hey, look at this," she said, and read a page written in an old, fancy script: "The Sentinel is a guardian that lives and coexists within the owner, taking the form of a creature, it can be summoned at will and creates a shield between the owner and the evil at hand. It is born within someone at their birth, protecting them for life. The Sentinel is called forth during times of true fear, and can stay outside of the owner for as long as it or the owner wants. They have some magical properties, they can be used as a link between it and it's owner and others, shrinking itself as big or as small as it is needed, can be used as a bandage, and enables its owner to talk with the Sentinel's species. The Sentinel can go as long as ten years without showing itself, finally expressing it's existence by frequent headaches, of which no tea or medicine can cure, and a symbol of the creature which cannot be washed away. Isn't that cool?" "Cool, yes, but not what we're looking for," Mel answered her, "Marks that can't be washed away? Like this?" Rachel asked, rolling back her sleeve to show a small, yet unmistakable tattoo-like silver fox. "Ouch!" Mel yelped, yanking her own sleeve up to her inner upper arm and gazing with shock at the miniscule owl imprinted there. "Well," Ally gulped, "here goes nothing," and pulling up her sleeve, and blinked down at the little silver tiger on her arm. 


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: Charmed, its cast, plots and everything else belong to someone else! I repeat, I don't own Charmed, if I did, why would I be writing fan fiction? CGdancer: I'm not sure how to. I double-space everything, but when I put it up, it doesn't show it. I'll keep working on that. AN: I am going to list my own character's names and their powers to relieve  
some confusion.  
Bear with me, folks, I'm workin' on it.  
  
Mel: (Piper and Leo) Orbing, Healing, and Freezing. Age: 12 Ally: (Paige and Glenn) Orbing, Telekinesis, and Transfiguration. Age: 12 Rachel: (Phoebe and Cole) Shimmering, Premonitions, and Energy balls. Age: 10 Mattie: (Piper and Leo) Orbing and Astral Projection. Age: 7 T: (Phoebe and Cole) Shimmering and Premonitions. Age: 5 (T is just a nickname. I couldn't figure out a name, so I just used T) Pru: (Piper and Leo) Control over storms, and Orbing. Age: 3  
  
Chapter Three: The Sentinel "Hey, you guys, whacha doin'?" Paige asked her daughter and her two oldest nieces, who were standing around the Book of Shadows, staring intently at their upper arms. They all immediately dropped their shirtsleeves, and blinked at her as though they were trying to look innocent, and not quite pulling it off. "Uh, nothing, uh, just looking for a demon guy, er, thingy? Heh, heh" Ally smiled a hopeful grin, hoping beyond belief that her mom bought it. "No, guys, what are you really doing?" Paige said, as she thought,*Al is such a bad liar, and Mel standing there looking at her shoes isn't helping.* "Just reading the Book," Rachel remarked in an upbeat voice. "Sure," Paige said, "and I'm Pinocchio." She walked purposely to the book, and read the page silently to herself, her mouth forming the words as she went. After she'd finished, she looked at her daughter, "Why are you looking at that?" "Because- Uncle-Leo-sent-us-up-here-to-find-a-demon-who-stole-some-lady's- heart!" Mel said this all without pausing. "I didn't know you could talk that fast, Mel," Ally remarked, grinning, and put one eyebrow up, something Paige had never been able to do. "What's this?" Paige demanded, seizing her daughter's sleeve and staring at the little tiger there, her eyes dawning with comprehension, "And you thought you could hide that from me? Your own mother? Your own Aunt?" "Uh, yeah?" Rachel said unceremoniously. "Piper! Phoebe! We got another problem here!" Paige yelled down the attic steps.  
"Huh? What kind of problem!?" Phoebe yelled up, "If Rachel  
took your rollerblades again, Ally, it's no reason to call  
your aunts by their first names!" "It's Paige, and it's  
bigger than stolen rollerblades!" Paige called down again,  
"Get your behinds up here!!!!" they did, and after Paige  
explained what happened, Piper said "Okay, so what your  
trying to say is that our daughters have weird guardians, and  
we've got another demon issue, what else could be insaner?"  
"Knock on wood!" Phoebe yelped, and Paige quipped, "Insaner?  
Only in the Halliwell household would that be considered a  
word," "Funny," Piper said, her voice clipped, "Might I  
remind you of, say a week ago, you used the word  
'funnyless'?" "Honey, Paige, you two might want to work on  
some spells to protect yourselves with," said Leo, worried  
about his wife and her sisters. "Girls? Did you find the  
demon we're after?" As every girl shook her head, Leo  
replied, "Phoebe, you might want to look in the book." Some  
hours later Phoebe looked up and cheerfully called, "I found  
something! Guys, look," and pointed to the page, Malevolen, they read, was a demonic heartbreaker, literally. He needed fifty hearts by Halloween to gain a physical form. He took over any man's body, ugly or not, and made them seem handsome, smart, funny, or whatever his victims thought attractive. The way he killed was, once his victims said, "I love you," their heart was his, and it wasn't only the women who died, the body he stole died as soon as he left it, unable to stay there after he'd killed. Witches had confined him in a prison, but they'd made one flaw. "And he only can escape every thirteen years, on Friday the thirteenth." Phoebe explained, "Geez, what is it with these guys and Friday the thirteenth?" Piper asked, exasperated "Well, if your gonna be a cryptic upper level demon, Friday the thirteenth is kinda the most demony day there is," Paige quipped again, she was on a roll today. "Hah! you said 'demony' there's two for you and one for me," Piper wrote on an imaginary notebook. "Piper, Paige, quit it with the weird word tally, okay? We have more important things to do." Phoebe told them. Both women blinked sheepishly at her, and turned back to scrying. The next day passed normally, well, as normally as it could in a house full of witches. At four, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige met at P3. "Well, we COULD just summon the guy," Paige remarked. "Yeah, except the Book didn't tell us his powers, so basically, that would just be askin' for it." Ally commented as she orbed in. 


	4. Chapter Four, and a guest appearance by

Beautifulgarbage: thanks! I'm glad you like it.  
  
AN: I'm trying really hard to update quickly, but with school and everything, it's hard to. If you all out there want to see more faster, you know what to do! Review!  
CHAPTER FOUR  
  
"So, the guy just turns around and leaves!" Piper told Leo. "After he says the name of the demon you're after? There's got to be some sort of connection there." Leo replied, rubbing his face with his hands and yawning, "I'm tired, Piper, the Elders gave out new assignments yesterday, and with my luck, I get a daredevil! " Piper smiled to herself, and watched Leo walk sleepily up the stairs.  
  
"Rachel? Rachel?" Ally whispered, shaking Rachel's arm, trying to wake her. "Hmmmmnn," Mel groaned, "Why does she inherit Aunt Phoebe's heavy sleeping gene? Why?" Ally's face lit up. Clambering quietly onto Rachel's bed, she stood up shakily, and took an experimental bounce. Mel caught on, and covered her mouth with her hand to conceal her laughter. Ally grinned evilly, and jumped up and down, up and down, then landed on her knees and stuck her face right up to Rachel's.  
  
"Boo!" she whispered, in the creepiest, most demon-like voice her transfiguring power would allow. Rachel jolted awake, and almost screamed when she saw the silvery light enveloping her and her cousins. "Yep, that's what I said she'd do, Mel, you owe me a dollar." Ally announced, and pulled her younger cousin out of bed. The trio crept to the attic, where Ally pulled out the candles, and Mel lit them. "I can't see why you can't do this yourself," Mel grumbled after she struck a match. "That's 'cause she can't" Rachel smiled, and Ally pinched her. "Who cares who can't light a candle, we're here to find out about those Sentinel thingies" Mel told them, ever the peacemaker. "What are we looking for?" Rachel asked, yawning, "And why do we have to look for it in the middle of the night? Couldn't this wait 'till morning?" "We're looking for why we glow in the dark! Doesn't that seem a little weird to you? Even though we're witches, we've never glowed before without a magical cause." "How are we gonna do that? We read the whole page, and there wasn't anything else, was there?" Rachel asked, puzzled.  
  
"We wrote a spell to see if any of our witchy relatives knows anything more about them," Mel told her, lighting the last candle and setting it down to form a pentagram. Ally took their hands and pulled out a torn out sheet of crumpled notebook paper. "Ready?" she asked, Across the distance, The great divide, we call the answers, Which seem to hide. Send us a helper, Someone to guide, Help us to find the answers, Wherever they hide.  
  
With a rush of air, the candles flickered, and a indistinct form appeared in the center of the flickering candles. "What the heck am I doing HERE?!" Prue exclaimed, taking a look around. *okay,* she thought, *I'll just close my eyes, take a few deep breaths..* "Wait one minute! Who are you three? How the heck did you summon me here?!" the room was perfectly still and dark, except for the gentle glow coming from the silver tattoo-like marks on their arms. Ally gulped, "You're dead! Oh man, oh man, oh man, we're in for it now." "Yeah, if we only got grounded for the toad incident, we're dead meat!" Mel replied, white as a fish. "You mean that this was an accident? You brought me back to life for crying out loud! Let me hug you!" Prue ran to the dumbfounded girls and squeezed them in a massive bear hug. "What in the world are you three doing here? It's three in the morning," Phoebe mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she ascended the staircase into the attic. "Holy mackerel! It's PRUE!" Phoebe jolted awake, and shouted, Piper, Paige, come here! You'll want to see this!!"  
  
AN: Well? Is it getting better? Staying the same? Heaven forbid, worse? Tell me!! You know what to do! Review! 


	5. Chapter Five, and yet another guest appe...

AN: ~ mean the mysterious voice, because I'm too lazy to write that all the time in context.  
  
After hours of hugs, tears, short introductions, and catching up, all of the members of the Halliwell family were sound asleep.  
  
The corridor had grown. The doors had reached monstrous proportions, and a few glowed with a sinister- looking light. The game pieces were gone, and in their place were gasping faces, pulling and smashing each other in a frantic frenzy to leave the rooms. Ally's confusing, yet safe-feeling dream had been horribly tainted, and she writhed in the agony of the pain so many others were feeling. So many, so many. Dream slipped into unconsciousness, and in the blissful darkness, Ally gratefully slumbered, free of any feeling at all. Moments later, a sinister, dead-looking face ripped through the veil of unconsciousness that Ally had cloaked herself in. A horrible shriek of terror pierced the night's deadly calm, but Paige and Prue were the only ones who heard it.  
  
"Miss Halliwell? Are you listening to me at all?" Mr. McBeal asked. "Uh, yeah, (yawn) I'm listening." Ally lied. She had been dozing in her seat since class had started. Too afraid of her dream to sleep, she had awoken at five in the morning, giving her a whopping two hours of sleep.  
  
"Umhmm, what did I just say?" Mr. McBeal asked cynically, tapping his pen annoyingly on his desk. ~say weather patterns,~ a light, slightly coarse voice recommended. "Something about weather patterns," *I hope,* Ally said out loud. To the voice, she thought-asked, *Who are you?* ~look at the window, ~ Ally did, and her eyes widened when she saw a minute tortishell point Siamese kitten lazing on the windowsill. ~you are one ugly kitten. Where is your fur? Do you have mange? Or are you naturally bald?~ "Mr. McBeal? I don't feel well, can I see the nurse?" Ally said, and held her head in her hands. "Why, sure, if you are really sick," Mr. McBeal told her, gesturing for the door. *you could say that,* Ally thought wryly, lurching her way outside to the windowsill.  
  
Upon reaching it, she grabbed the kitten, and uncaring about being careful, orbed home.  
  
"Aunt Prue!" she yelled, knowing somehow, that Aunt Prue was the only adult home. "What the. forget it, just tell me what the heck you're doing home at," she checked her watch, "one o'clock, when you're supposed to be at school." "Okay, I fell asleep in class, and then I hear this little voice, in my head," Ally pointed, then continued wildly, "I look around, and this kitten is on the windowsill, so." Her voice faded out as she realized that she sounded like a world class loon. "Mmhmm, and where are you going with this?" Prue asked, shaking her head slightly. "and where on earth did you get that kitten?" "That's what I'm trying to tell you! I think that whole, 'talk to the Sentinel's species' thing wasn't total baloney, and this kitten," Ally paused, listening to someone Prue couldn't hear. "Hey! That was really mean! You're lucky she can't understand you, you, Vain! Yeah, YOU, vain, vain, vain!" Ally taunted the kitten, and Prue, wondering from what genes her niece had received her insanity, nodded slowly, and went to call her sisters.  
  
When she had gone, Ally and the kitten's conversation continued, ~well, she isn't as beautiful as I am, that's for sure,~ *Do you have a name, or do you just make people seem like lunatics!?* Ally thought to the kitten. ~yes, my name is Vega, and do you have a name, or do you just take kittens off the streets and teleport them to strange places?~ *Humph,* Ally thought, and the two glared at each other.  
  
AN: Just as an interesting fact, Vega, the kitten, was actually based off of one of my pet cats. They are both extremely vain. Okay, ya'll know the drill, Review! 


	6. Chapter Six, with no guest! yeah!

Thanks to all you out there who reviewed!! Your praise makes me feel special! Not insane, but really and truly special!  
  
~then* means a shared thought. Like two people saying the same thing at once. To clear up some confusion, here are the Sentinel marks again:  
  
Ally: Tiger  
  
Mel: Owl  
  
Rachel: Fox  
  
~Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! Cat! Cat! Get it away from me!!~ rang through Mel's brain on the walk home from the bus stop. She shook her head, and twisted her finger in her ear. ~Ooh! Sunflower seeds!~ Mel shook her head again, and began to walk faster. *okay, think rationally, this can't get any weirder.* ~What do you mean, 'be rational'? there are sunflower seeds for crying out loud! Sunflower seeds are better than. Tuna! I must have them!~ Mel broke into a run, this was getting way too weird.  
  
~rude, inconsiderate,~ *Vain, despicable,* Ally thought, ~Stupid* "Al, do you want to lie down?" Prue asked, concerned for her niece's sanity. "Did you consider that this conversation isn't totally unbalanced?" Ally's mouth dropped open, "You really have issues, you know that?!" she told Vega, glaring at her. ~your aunt is particularly odd, did you know?~ *You are particularly odd, you know! you make me sound like a total loon!* Ally thought to Vega, sneering. ~Maybe you are a total loon, and I am just a cruel trick of fate messing with your mind. Did you ever think that?~ Ally's eyes grew round. What if she was right? "Al, what's going on?" Mel asked, "do you hear voices too? Oh, man, now I sound like a loon!"  
  
Prue, meanwhile, was on the phone: "But Paige! It's like, she's talking to herself! What? No, Leo's not painting my room, why do you ask?" She paused. "Right, just come home soon. Oh, flying monkeys! Now Mel's doing it too!" Paige raised an eyebrow, wondering if Prue was lying about the paint.  
  
In a creepy, dripping cave somewhere, the man from P3 was pacing back and forth, appearing to mutter to himself. "Why me? Why the same Charmed Ones that even powerful Belthazor fell for? We shall meet again, Paige Halliwell! You will see."  
  
"Aunt Phoebe! You're the psychic! Tell Aunt Prue that I'm not totally NUTS!" Ally and Mel pleaded with their aunt, who shook for a moment, and said, "Prue, their right. Did anybody remember WHY Prue came here?" "You don't think?" Piper asked, and Paige finished, "The book-writer, uh, guys were right about the whole 'able to talk to the animal's species,' thingy wasn't total bologna. Was it?"  
  
AN: Okay, yeah, it's short, but I'm running low on ideas at the moment, and I don't have as much time to write as much as I'd like to.  
  
Hey, computer mice! See that purple button-uh, square? It's Cheese! Really yummy cheese! So don't listen to your masters and click on it! 


	7. Chapter Seven, Angry witch duct tape di...

Paige's last comment earned her a whole round of "Duh!,"s, and she turned bright red and said, "Well excuse me!" Luckily for her, her cell-phone rang, and relieved for the chance to leave the room, she answered it.  
  
The message the call brought, however, was chilling and cold- hearted. "I know for whatever reason Miss I'm-So-Important- That-I-Can-Blow-Off-Work, didn't show up today, it's definitely a good one!" It was just Cowan. A very angry, bitter Cowan, but still, just Cowan. Paige felt her lungs start working again, and she sighed, "Okay, I blew off work, but I had to." Paige scrambled for an excuse, she couldn't tell her boss that she'd spent the whole day in a magic shop, looking for mandrake root! "Go shopping." Was her lame excuse, and Cowan countered, "Shopping? You miss a whole day on this case, for shopping?! What on Earth for?! What takes a whole stinking day to shop for?!" "What. for?" Paige realized her mistake, "Uh, vegetables?" she said hopefully, and bracing herself for the tidal wave, three, two, one. "Vegetables?! You miss a whole day for vegetables!? But, but, why?" "Vegetables?" Ally mouthed incredulously, having walked into the room. "Uh." Paige, for once, was at a loss for words. Ally rolled her eyes, changed her voice, and used telekinesis to bring the phone to her. Once it was safely in her hand, she said in her 'Paige' voice, "Oh, I don't feel so good." dropped the phone to the floor, and made a overly- dramatic stage fall onto the floor, and clicked off the phone. "Drama queen," Paige said, and folded her arms. "Okay," Ally agreed, "but you got to admit, it worked." Brushing off her hands, she stood up and walked out of the room.  
  
In the next room, Phoebe burst into laughter, "She's so like you! Except for the whole, I'm a Charmed one and you're not thing," Even Piper joined in the laughter, exclaiming, "Vegetables? Not even Leo could spend a whole day shopping for vegetables!" Prue, still laughing hard, choked out, "I'm dead for crying out loud, and I know better excuses!" Paige shot them all a death glare and said two choice words. Duct tape.  
  
Hours later, Phoebe, Piper, and Prue were hanging from the chandelier in what seemed like silver cocoons. "You had to bring up the vegetables," Piper said, flailing about in her cocoon. "Well, excuse me for breathing!" Phoebe answered, "You had to bring up Leo, didn't you? Now he won't get us down because you made fun of his 'veggie choosing' skills. Plus, your kids, all of which can orb? Won't help." "What about Al? she'd help us, right?" Prue asked, twisting around, then yelping, "Ow! Duct tape hurts when you try to peel it off," "After you called her a physco, and Pheebs the genius here compared her to her mom? Not a chance." Piper deadpanned, slumping in her cocoon.  
  
Several hours after that, the three's morale had dropped sufficiently. After trying and failing to get down, they gave up, finally falling asleep. "Is mommy gonna be a buttorfwy?" Prue the small asked, pointing her chubby finger at Piper, thoroughly confused by their predicament. "Yeah," Ally told her, "she'll have feelers, and wings, and an extra set of arms." "Allyson Parker Halliwell! When I get down from here." Prue threatened, glaring. "Al? What's going on here?" Mel, after all of the sentinel stuff had been figured out, like the good girl that she was, had gone immediately upstairs to do her homework, thus having missed the duct-tape shenanigans. "Well, it's a long story, Mom's boss called, I fake-passed out, the aunts went nuts with laughing, and mom orbed them up here. With the duct-tape."  
  
In a dark and gloomy cave somewhere, the creepy guy from P3 continued his rant, "I, the great, mighty Malevolen will not allow himself to fall for the Charmed ones! I will destroy them!" "Ya just keep tellin' yourself that, boss," Came the high-pitched squeak of a rat. "Oh, be quiet, Beatrice! Can't you see I'm trying to get my evil plot under way?" "Whatever you say," Beatrice said, and muttered to herself, "loser." "I heard that!" Malevolen yelled, and grabbed an old, ratty, (no pun intended) book. Flipping pages rapidly, he stopped suddenly, resting a finger on the page. "You would think after eons of doing this, you'd at least remember the spell!" Beatrice commented sarcastically. Ignoring her, Malevolen began to chant in an unknown language. Already, his form began to grow grey and old-looking, even though he'd looked in his early twenties a moment before. Minutes later, what once was a man was just a pile of dust. "Beatrice! You know what to do," Malevolen, or his ghost, hovered scant inches above the floor. "Yeah, yeah, what am I? Your slave?" Beatrice rolled her eyes, and scurried off the table she was on and clamped her rodent teeth on Malevolen's ghostly cloak. "Well, if you want to be technical." Malevolen replied, and Beatrice cut him off with, "You better not finish that sentence, buddy-boy, or I'll let go right now."  
  
Beatrice pulled her master out of the cave, and onto the busy street. Dodging cars, she whisked into an outdoor restaurant patio. Once there, Malevolen hissed orders to her, "No, not him, he's too short. He's too old. Ahhh, here's someone," "Picky, picky," Beatrice retorted, and pulled him toward his chosen person. Leaping onto the table, Beatrice placed a grubby paw on the man's face, and ran for the alleyway. Already her spell had taken affect, and the man sprinted after her. Once both parties were in the alley, Beatrice released Malevolen, and he began his own spell. Once finished, he dove for the man's mouth, and within moments the man's spirit was expelled, and his body sighed, a wicked grin coming over his face.  
  
AN: okay, I know this chapter might be a bit confusing, so I'll explain. Malevolen, or ghosts in general (in my world) cannot move by themselves, with Prue being an exception because the girls brought her back to life. Prue the small is Piper and Leo's youngest daughter, and is three. I haven't mentioned her much because there weren't many places she'd fit in. hope that explains it for you. Oh, yeah, and I am supposing that Mr. Cowan is Paige's boss. 


End file.
